Guest Kadi Posted January 13, 2011 at 03:25 PM Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 at 03:25 PM Per the policies of our organization, "There must be a Newsletter at least four times per year." In addition, the membership application says "Membership to XXX includes the following: 1. Four newsletters per year" A membership runs from Jan - Dec, with a possible grace period the following Jan. There is some confusion in our bylaws as to whether the renewal grace period applies only to the late fee for membership renewal, or means the member can still recieve membership benefits during the Jan following their membership year. The current board has adopted the stance that the grace period means people can still recieve membership benefits.The final newsletter of 2010 was sent to the printers in Dec, but didn't get printed/mailed out by the end of the month. It is currently sitting at the printers waiting for the Board to approve the cost of printing it.Members of the board have now made a motion to just "throw out" that newsletter, don't print or mail it, since it wasn't done in 2010. Their rationale being that the policy and membership agreement have already been violated, so they don't have to adhere to it anymore, and can save some money by just not issuing the newsletter at all.In this situation, should the board still follow the policies as closely as possibly and have the newsletter printed and mailed out? Or can they claim that since the policy was already broken, they don't have to make any attempt to adhere to it anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmtcastle Posted January 13, 2011 at 03:37 PM Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 at 03:37 PM In this situation, should the board still follow the policies as closely as possibly and have the newsletter printed and mailed out? Or can they claim that since the policy was already broken, they don't have to make any attempt to adhere to it anymore?The next time you're late with your rent payment, try telling your landlord that, since you can't pay it on time, you don't have to pay it at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted January 13, 2011 at 03:54 PM Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 at 03:54 PM The current board has adopted the stance that the grace period means people can still recieve membership benefits.Ambiguity in the bylaws is not resolved by the board adopting stances. It is resolved by a vote of the assembly. Or better yet, fixing the bylaws so that the ambiguity does not exist.Members of the board have now made a motion to just "throw out" that newsletter, don't print or mail it, since it wasn't done in 2010. Their rationale being that the policy and membership agreement have already been violated, so they don't have to adhere to it anymore, and can save some money by just not issuing the newsletter at all. So if I fail to pay my taxes on time I can just forget about ever paying them again? Hmmm In this situation, should the board still follow the policies as closely as possibly and have the newsletter printed and mailed out? Or can they claim that since the policy was already broken, they don't have to make any attempt to adhere to it anymore?Obviously they should use their best efforts to comply. But it's not really a parliamentary question, because they violated no rule relating to the conduct of a meeting.What they really have to worry about is whether the assembly is angered by their failure to fulfill their duties, enough to impose discipline (See Chapter XX) on them. They might also worry about a charge of improperly taking stances with no authority to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kadi Posted January 13, 2011 at 06:12 PM Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 at 06:12 PM Ambiguity in the bylaws is not resolved by the board adopting stances. It is resolved by a vote of the assembly. Or better yet, fixing the bylaws so that the ambiguity does not exist.Our bylaws are a mess, the board is currently putting together a committee to propose changes to them, so hopefully in the future we will have something much clearer to work from, but for now ...Obviously they should use their best efforts to comply. But it's not really a parliamentary question, because they violated no rule relating to the conduct of a meeting.In this situation, since the policies are clear that 4 issues must be sent out, wouldn't making and seconding a motion to just not send out the 4th issue, plus voting on it, be incorrect conduct in a meeting?What they really have to worry about is whether the assembly is angered by their failure to fulfill their duties, enough to impose discipline (See Chapter XX) on them. They might also worry about a charge of improperly taking stances with no authority to do so. Unfortunately in our current bylaws, the only people who can impose discipline on a board member, is another board member. And the majority of the board keeps voting for these types of things, even when it's pointed out they are violating the policies/bylaws. So I don't see them taking disciplinary action against themselves. And when any of the membership disagrees with the board, or points out bylaws/policy violations, the Board starts threatening the member with not behaving in a cooperative manner. We have a bylaw stating members will function in a sportsmanlike manner and will cooperate with the organization or face possible disciplinary action, up to and including potential suspension from the organization. If however enough of the membership objects, they may bow to peer pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmtcastle Posted January 13, 2011 at 06:23 PM Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 at 06:23 PM Our bylaws are a mess, the board is currently putting together a committee to propose changes to them, so hopefully in the future we will have something much clearer to work from, but for now ...Are you really going to trust this board to revise your bylaws?When is the next meeting of the general membership? It may be time to bypass the board. See Official Interpretation 2006-13. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 13, 2011 at 10:37 PM Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 at 10:37 PM Unfortunately in our current bylaws, the only people who can impose discipline on a board member, is another board member.You should amend the Bylaws to fix that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted January 13, 2011 at 10:46 PM Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 at 10:46 PM In this situation, since the policies are clear that 4 issues must be sent out, wouldn't making and seconding a motion to just not send out the 4th issue, plus voting on it, be incorrect conduct in a meeting?A motion which is in conflict with the bylaws or with previously adopted policies or other resolutions is not in order. Such a motion should be ruled out of order by the chair. If the chair fails to do so then any member should raise a point of order that the motion is out of order. The chair will rule on the point of order, subject to Appeal. A majority vote is required to sustain an Appeal from the Decision of the Chair.And yes, failure to abide by the bylaws of the society could certainly subject the chair to censure or worse discipline. Do you have a majority on your side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kadi Posted January 14, 2011 at 04:20 AM Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 at 04:20 AM Are you really going to trust this board to revise your bylaws?This board, no. However I do trust a number of people who are going to be on the bylaws committee, and the bylaws can only be changed by a 2/3 vote of the membership. So the board may have some say in the possible changes that are presented to the membership, but won't be able to control what changes pass or don't pass.When is the next meeting of the general membership? It may be time to bypass the board. See Official Interpretation 2006-13.We only have general membership meetings once a year, in the fall. So we have about 10 months before the next one.A motion which is in conflict with the bylaws or with previously adopted policies or other resolutions is not in order. Such a motion should be ruled out of order by the chair. If the chair fails to do so then any member should raise a point of order that the motion is out of order. The chair will rule on the point of order, subject to Appeal. A majority vote is required to sustain an Appeal from the Decision of the Chair. The Chair is the one who has made or seconded these motions. So when it's brought up the motion is out of order, the Chair simply says it's not, and continues on.And yes, failure to abide by the bylaws of the society could certainly subject the chair to censure or worse discipline. Do you have a majority on your side?Majority of who? I am not on the board, just a member of the organization. The majority of the board keeps voting in favor of these out of order motions, because the chair says they aren't out of order. There is one board member who keeps pointing out that the motions are in violation of the bylaws, but the rest of the board ignores them and still votes in favor. I'm not sure how the majority of the membership feels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.